February 21, 2017

Editors’ picks

Best-Kept Beauty Secrets

Best all-around beauty boutique: Bluemercury

Local entrepreneur Marla Beck founded her boutique on the premise that great skin requires less makeup. In addition to its high-end cosmetics and fragrances, Bluemercury offers a signature m-61 skin care line that has established a cult following. bluemercury.com

Best for nails: Aislinn Nails and Spa

This spacious Falls Church salon gets high marks for its cleanliness, friendly aestheticians, nail designs and gels, and “Deep Clean” pedicures. aislinnspa.weebly.com

Best for brows and facials: Anabellas Spa

At her full-service McLean spa, owner Ana Snow garners accolades for expert eyebrow design, and facials with the option of microdermabrasion and lymphatic drainage. anabellasspa.com

Best for makeup parties: Primp by Smitten

Whether the occasion is a girls’ night out, a bridal party or a special event, the stylists and makeup artists at Primp will ensure that you and your squad are Instagram-worthy. primpbysmitten.com

Best for waxing: Massy Bagherzadeh at MB Better Skin

Bagherzadeh is everything you want in an aesthetician who’s granted access to your most delicate areas: quick, precise and unflappable. www.mbbetterskin.com

Shopping

Best Toy Store

Other top vote-getters:

February 21, 2017

Health & Beauty

Best Crossfit Gym

BallstonCrossfit

Spend a couple months with owner Tucker Jones and the other trainers at BallstonCrossFit and you’ll know your deadlift from your push jerk. Both moves are mainstays in the popular workout that combines aerobic conditioning, body-weight resistance and weight training. “Our best athletes and our newest athletes all do the same workout,” with modifications to meet each individual’s current level of fitness, explains Jones, a former James Madison University tennis star whose subsequent years in real estate development and management consulting taught him that a desk job was decidedly not for him. His favorite client? His 63-year-old mom, Allyn Jones. “She was nervous at first,” he says. “She’s addicted now.” –Amy Rogers Nazarov

Other top vote-getters:

February 21, 2017

Education & Family

Best Animal Hospital

Ballston Animal Hospital

Photo by Stacy Zarin-Goldberg

Local roots run deep at Ballston Animal Hospital, where six of the seven vets are Arlington residents. That’s just how veterinarian Thomas Collins, who bought the practice in 2006, likes it. While many clinics are joining corporate franchises, Collins says he prefers to run an independent, community-based practice that offers general care as well as holistic treatments such as acupuncture. The clinic works with the Animal Welfare League of Arlington, offering a free first visit for any pet adopted from the shelter. In fact, Collins met one of his five rescued pets—a feisty cat named Pip—at the shelter. When Pip lost a leg to infection, he won Collins’ heart during treatment and the vet took him home for good. –Laurie McClellan

February 21, 2017

Home

Best Architect

Ballard + Mensua Architecture

Many Arlington houses were built in the 1940s and suffer from “small closets, tiny kitchens and no mudrooms,” observes architect Seth Ballard. His decade-old firm is frequently called upon to open up those cramped spaces while preserving the “character and charm” of the home’s original design. Ballard, who earned his master’s in architecture from Tulane University (his business partner is his father-in-law in Spain), says he learned a lot about how families occupy their homes simply by watching how his own four children—ages 8 to 16—live, study and play. “They come with a lot of stuff,” he says. “I try to make sure there is a place for all of it.” –Amy Rogers Nazarov